In Yate, the much-loved Shire Way community centre closed in 2022 and has been left untouched ever since. The community centre embeds years of cherished memories that served the local community for almost forty years. In the 1970s, thousands of new homes sprung up in South Yates. The community centre offered a space for neighbours to meet and spend time with their families and friends. With thanks to very generous legacies and donations, Paul’s Place can extend our vital services for physically disabled adults at Shire Way community centre. It will breathe new life into the building for our charity and the local community.

We began with a small group of friends identifying a need to bring physically disabled people together. The demand for our services exploded from across Bristol, South Glos and B&NES, which created our small charity offering many activities and vital services. At first, the community centre will expand our support for physically disabled adults. In the long-term we’ll create a community café, allotment and opportunities for the community to hire rooms and halls for local activities and special events.

Paul’s Place member, Ben Holbrook, says, “Our move to Shire Way means so much for physically disabled adults. Our current day facility has been great, but we need a new building that offers more opportunities while meeting a growing demand. It’s also our chance to give back by supporting a community café and growing food that will benefit everyone. The community can meet us and see for themselves what we’re about. They’ll notice we’re not scary or different from them. We breathe the same air and despite our struggles we carry on. It opens a window of opportunities for the community in Shire Way to get to know us, talk with us and include us. We have the plans in place for Shire Way community centre, but we can’t implement those plans until we move in.”

You can imagine the building needs a total refit and refurb. The roof was our only saving grace, until someone stole the lead and caused severe damage during the robbery. This means we can’t enter the building as it’s deemed unsafe. The longer the roof remains damaged the worse it will get and cause further damage inside. It also means we can’t begin the rest of the work until the roof is repaired.

This is frustrating and heart-breaking as we were just handed the keys after months of waiting.

Please visit our Raise the Roof Just Giving page and donate whatever you can:  Raise the Roof – JustGiving

To enquire about our services for physically disabled adults or if you would like to volunteer, please contact us